Sunadokei
by Twilight PhoenixFyre
Summary: Almost three decades of constant war gives three ninja the mindset needed to change it all. And, as Kakashi later reflected, he should never bother to agree with Obito. Because the outcome of a 'stupid mission' has some surprising consequences... If he can ever forgive 'Hayashi Hyosuke' for letting Obito and Rin die. TimeTravel. OCs. Lots of pairings. 'T' to be safe later on.
1. Chapter 1

_I'm mostly just putting this up for now to see what kind of a reaction I get. I plan to finish it, but I may or may not wait until I'm done to continue posting. (Just depends on if you guys want to read more or not._

_There are three OCs in this story, and many more are mentioned, but those three are the main ones._

_Going by the names used in this first tiny section only, the dialogue for the first have goes as follows: Shino, Karura, Minato, Itachi, Shikamaru, Shino, Shikamaru, Shino, Itachi, Minato, Itachi, Minato, Karura. (Shino and Shikamaru are canon, the other three are the OCs. It'll make sense very shortly.)_

_I'm going to put up the second chapter as well because they're both necessary to get a feel for the story. Beyond that, it really depends on the feedback I get._

_So, enough of my rambling._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Sunadokei  
Chapter 1**

"You're sure about this? Karura? Minato? Itachi?"

"Yes, Shino-sensei."

"We already sent Kakashi-jiji back. If we don't get going soon, we'll be erased along with everyone else."

"Hey... Sensei? Can you tell Tousan I'm sorry for leaving like this?"

"You should have told him yourself..."

"Shikamaru."

"But I get it. You don't have the time... We'll tell him. Get going, you three."

"And be careful. If Kakashi doesn't succeed..."

"We know, Shino-sensei. We went over it a hundred times. Maybe more."

"Mostly because Kakashi-jiji was likely to forget."

"Minato!"

"Well, it's the truth!"

"Oi! Minato, Itachi! You two coming or not?"

The two men laughed, looked at the older men, then turned and ran over to their female companion, who was standing in the center of a very large, very complex seal. The woman was already flashing through hand signs, the seal starting to glow, brighter and brighter as she continued.

Then the light shone bright enough to blind the two bystanders before finally fading away.

The trio and the seal were gone.

*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*

Four people were crouched in a tree. The eldest and only adult, a blonde, was blinking as he looked at a prone figure lying on the ground.

"You've got to be kidding me," the dark-haired of the two boys with him said.

"Oh boy..." the other boy muttered, his hair silver.

"It's an old man," the dark-haired boy said.

"Here we go," the lone female groaned.

"We came all the way out here... Because of an old man?!"

The adult sighed, looked off in a random direction that was not the dark-haired boy's, and started counting silently.

"I thought we were out here to investigate a chakra spike? I don't care how great a ninja you are, no old man is gonna have enough chakra to be noticed all the way out here from Konoha!"

"And no self-respecting ninja would be yelling that loudly in the presence of someone who may or may not also be a ninja."

All four of the ninja in the tree looked down at the old man in surprise as he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. The blonde dropped down to the ground not far from the man and walked up to him cautiously. The other three followed his lead after a moment.

"Are you from around here, ojiisan?" he asked, kneeling next to him. The man groaned.

"I know I'm old, but you don't have to rub it in my face. Karura, Itachi and Mina—humph... They're bad enough," the man grumbled, seemingly cutting off the last of the names he'd been listing. "And it was all Neku's fault. Ah well. My name's Hyosuke. Hayashi Hyosuke."

"Namikaze Minato," the blonde said simply, still looking a bit bothered. "You're... a retired ninja?"

Hyosuke snorted. "Retired... Nice joke, kid. No such thing as retired in a war. Which is why I'm here, and not at home in Amegakure."

Minato frowned. "You're not wearing a hitai-ate," he said. Hyosuke nodded.

"Never said I was on a mission. If I am, it's a self-assigned one."

"You're a nuke-nin?" the dark-haired boy asked. Hyosuke looked up at him and blinked rather lazily... with his right eye. Now that his white hair had shifted a bit, Minato could see that the left eye was covered with an eye patch, and there was a rather nasty scar running down his cheek.

"If you're going to be rude asking questions like that, you might as well offer up a name," Hyosuke drawled. The boy looked sheepish.

"Ah... Obito. I'm Uchiha Obito."

"Um, I'm finding it a bit suspicious that we're trusting him," the silver-haired boy said. Obito looked at him angrily.

"It's called being polite, Bakashi!"

"Polite... like you aren't being?" the girl muttered.

Minato sighed and stood. "I'm sorry for this, Hayashi-san, but Kakashi brings up a good point..."

Hyosuke shrugged. "So what are you going to do? I was just trying to find someplace to settle down and pretend I'm not a ninja."

Minato crossed his arms, looking down at the old man quietly for a few minutes before he sighed, putting a hand on the girl's head. "This is Nohara Rin. That's Hatake Kakashi," he said, nodding toward the silver-haired boy. "We're a team from Konohagakure, though I'm sure you've already figured that out. We came out here under orders to investigate a chakra spike, and you're the only person we've found. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come back with us."

Hyosuke sighed, overdramatically, Minato noticed, and stood up. "Lead the way, then."

Minato glanced down at Kakashi, who stepped into a position relatively behind the old man, while Rin and Obito quietly flanked him.

The blonde started walking, then, realizing that the old man wasn't quite as harmless as he looked, he sped up until they were running, before deciding to take to the trees.

He found it rather suspicious that the elderly man seemed to have no difficulty whatsoever keeping up with them as they jumped from tree branch to tree branch.

"So, what's Amegakure like?"

"Obito!" Rin scolded. Hyosuke chuckled.

"Rainy. It is constantly raining," he said. He looked over at Rin. "And there's nothing wrong with curiosity."

"Except when he won't shut up," Kakashi grumbled from the back.

"How long have you been a ninja, Hayashi-san?" Minato asked. Hyosuke snorted.

"More than twice as long as you've been alive."

Minato turned his head just enough for Hyosuke to see his raised eyebrow. "You don't look twenty-eight to me," Hyosuke added.

Rin's eyes were wide. "Fifty-six years? That's a long time! How old are you, anyway?"

Hyosuke chuckled. "Old. Extremely old. I'm good at what I do, and I'm lucky. It's a very good, very lucky ninja who lives past sixty."

"Again... We're trusting him, why?" Kakashi asked.

"You're starting to sound like a pessimist... Does that make you the optimist?" Hyosuke asked, looking at Obito. The Uchiha chuckled a bit and nodded. "That having been said... If you feel like tying me up and carrying me would serve you better, feel free. I'm rather a bit tired of fighting, thank you."

Minato frowned, but focused on their destination. Maybe it would be a good idea to get the old man into the Torture and Interrogation Department as soon as possible...

"So if we drop you into T&I, you'd cooperate?"

Minato groaned, and Hyosuke chuckled. "Somehow, I had a feeling that would come up. I just hope they don't feel up to the 'T' part of that too much. I'll talk, happily. Not like I know anything that's going to help, but I've got nothing to hide. Nothing like that, anyway... I might refrain from disclosing some of my hobbies... Never mind. I'm starting to ramble. Karura says I do that too much..."

"Who's Karura? Your granddaughter?" Obito asked. Hyosuke was silent, and Minato glanced back, noticing the troubled look on his face.

"Not really. I've only ever had one Genin team. My students... The girl married one of the boys, and the other married another girl, and they both had sons about the same time. Those two got put on the same team as the daughter of one of their friends. The boys had gotten into the habit of calling me 'Jiji'... it rubbed off on Karura. It was actually kind of nice. I never got a chance... to have a family of my own," Hyosuke said.

"What happened?" Rin asked quietly. Hyosuke shrugged.

"War. War happened. Karura, her teammates, their siblings... I felt for their sensei. He got trapped in the same position I'd been in. No family, just three kids around the same age his would have been if he'd married and had a child before the woman he loved died," he said quietly, seemingly getting lost in his thoughts. He seemed to be following Minato on pure reflex now, which baffled the blonde even more. "Karura told me to leave. She gave me the means to do so. No one will miss me. I just hope they got out in time too."

Minato almost missed the next branch. "Her team deserted too?"

Hyosuke sighed. "They hadn't originally planned on telling me, but I kinda walked in on them trying to smooth some things over. Itachi was the one to decide to trust me, to talk Karura into helping me get out. But... I left before they did. If their plan worked, no one will notice that the four of us left..."

Minato was quiet for a few moments before he dropped back down to the ground, onto a road. "Come on. We might as well head in through the gates."

He glanced at Hyosuke, who, despite seeming no worse for the wear than the three kids, was having a slightly harder time breathing than he had earlier. He didn't look all that pleased about this, but he also didn't seem too put out by it, either. Minato figured it had to do with the fact that he knew he was old enough to be tiring easily and wasn't happy about it.

The blonde led the older man and the three kids through the streets of Konoha quietly, glancing back once in a while to see Hyosuke looking around, like he was trying to see all of the village at once. That faint expression of wonder told Minato volumes.

"Rin, Obito, Kakashi, go on ahead and tell Sandaime we found him. I'll take Hayashi-san to T&I," Minato said, stopping not far from a building bearing the kanji for 'fire'. The three kids looked up at him, then at Hyosuke, before sighing and continuing on toward the building. Minato steered Hyosuke in another direction.

_'__A ninja, albeit one who deserves to be retired, who seems to be used to tree-jumping even though there aren't many around Amegakure, who doesn't seem to want to do anything except get away from war... And what caused that chakra spike?'_

Minato's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and questions he wasn't sure he wanted answered when he reached the building housing the Torture and Interrogation Department.

Minato stopped, then—reluctantly, he would admit to himself later—and turned toward Hyosuke. "This is it..."

Hyosuke nodded, then allowed a small smile to grace his lips. Encouragement for a younger ninja who wasn't so sure of his path, Minato realized as he took a deep breath and led the old man inside, unable to meet his eyes.

Two figures stepped out of the shadows, and Minato paused, Hyosuke coming to a stop beside him. The taller, older figure crossed his arms. "I take it he's the source of the chakra flare?"

Minato nodded. "Beren, Ibiki... This is Hayashi Hyosuke. Hayashi-san, Beren is the head of T&I, Ibiki is training to take over for him," he introduced the three men.

The younger man, who looked to be in his late teens, frowned, but Beren nodded almost imperceptibly toward Minato.

"We'll take care of him. If you would, Hayashi-san," he said, gesturing for the elderly man to follow him further in.

Hyosuke was soon seated in an interrogation room across from Ibiki.

"You might want to bring a Yamanaka in here. I'm willing to tell you the truth, but you won't believe me if I do," Hyosuke said as Ibiki sorted out the forms he was supposed to be trying to fill out during the questioning.

Ibiki glance up at him suspiciously before picking up a pen. "I'll be the one to decide that. Now, why don't we start with your age?"

"I'd have thought you would want to start with my name."

Ibiki watched the man carefully, and while he wasn't looking at the teen, he was also completely relaxed. So far, at least.

"Very well. Is your name Hayashi Hyosuke?"

"No."

Ibiki raised an eyebrow. "Is Minato aware of this?"

"No, and for good reason."

"I'll determine that. Name and age, if you would."

"Hatake Kakashi, age sixty."

Ibiki stared.


	2. Chapter 2

_I'd like to bring up two more things that I didn't feel right putting in that first chapter. One: The Kakashi that came back from the future will, from here out, be referred to only as 'Hyosuke' by me (Minato slips and calls him 'Kakashi' occasionally.) Two: 'Sunadokei' is Japanese for 'hourglass'. This is something that comes up multiple times during the story, and is also a bit of an allusion to the fact that this is, technically, a time-travel story._

_Okay, I'm done now. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Sunadokei  
Chapter 2  
**

"Sandaime-sama, we've already had three different Yamanakas check him out. Either he's telling the truth, or he's under the best damn genjutsu I've ever seen," Beren said, resisting the urge to pace in front of the Hokage.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed. "So we have a ninja from almost fifty years in the future down in the T&I Department," he said, still sounding rather unconvinced. "Did he tell you why he's here?" he asked, attempting to dig through his drawers for his pipe without attracting too much of Beren's attention.

"He says he was sent back to set things up for three others. He gave us two sets of names, though he seems to favor one over the other. And I think I've figured out why, too." Hiruzen raised a eyebrow, silently prompting Beren to continue. "Sabaku no Karura, Uchiha Itachi, and Uzumaki Minato."

Hiruzen frowned. "Sabaku no Karura is the Kazekage's wife, Uchiha Itachi is a year old, and Minato said he and Kushina would both be keeping their own clan names," he stated. Beren nodded.

"Except, from what we've caught when Hatake starts rambling without fully realizing it, Uzumaki Minato is Namikaze Minato's grandson. Same situation with Sabaku no Karura. And as for Uchiha Itachi... He seems to be the nephew of the one-year-old running around now."

The Hokage mulled this over a bit, while absentmindedly wondering why he hadn't found his pipe yet. "You said he gave you a second set of names...?"

"Uzumaki Karura, Uchiha Sakumo, and Namikaze Neku."

"Karura isn't changing her first name, and Itachi isn't going to pretend to be a different clan?"

"He has the Sharingan. He doesn't want to risk anything. Besides, Hatake claims Sabaku no Karura will be dead before Uzumaki Karura is old enough to meet anyone from Sunagakure."

"Old enough?" Hiruzen echoed, before finally remembering where he'd hidden his pipe from his wife.

"Apparently, Hatake wasn't given all the details on this. What he does know, however, is that the three are convinced that they'll arrive as babies, and they've timed it so they'll grow up alongside their parents. He said they're also supposed to be able to retain their memories of their previous life."

The Hokage found his pipe, lit it, and took a long drag before allowing himself to start thinking over this. "They sent him ahead to convince Minato and Kushina to adopt Neku and Karura, respectively... and to find a way to fake Sakumo's birth into the Uchiha Clan," he said slowly. Beren crossed his arms.

"It looks like it. Hatake also mentioned that he was under strict orders to change nothing more than absolutely necessary until after they'd arrived. And even then, they've only given him clearance on one thing..."

"He wouldn't tell you what that 'thing' was, would he?"

"Seems to think it'll change too much, too soon."

Hiruzen's eyes found their way to the ceiling. "Go get Minato for me, would you?"

Although Beren looked rather baffled, he left to find the blonde anyway, leaving the Hokage to sit and consider everything he'd learned over the past hour.

A knocking at his door some time later prompted him to movement, closing one of the folders on his desk and opening another, using it to carefully hide the first from view. "Enter."

Minato stepped in, Beren right behind him until Hiruzen asked him to retrieve their guest next. "You asked for me?" Minato asked. Hiruzen nodded.

"I have a very ridiculous, hypothetical question for you."

"Oh boy..."

Hiruzen smirked. "Nohara Rin lived to the age of sixty-one, then physically came back in time fifty years."

"On top of time travel being impossible, the chances of her living to that age are... improbable."

"Let's assume it happens, yes? She tells us that three ninja are also coming back, although they will be arriving as newborn babies four years later, and that she was sent ahead to prepare for their arrival so that they can change the future."

Hiruzen was quiet for a few moments as he watched Minato. The blonde looked very thoughtful. "I'm still missing some information, even for this utterly pointless hypothetical question. Because it almost sounds like you're implying the three babies would have all of the memories of their previous life as well."

"I am."

Minato crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. "Yamanakas?"

"Already confirmed her story."

"And she came back four years early just to prepare for the kids?"

"Extra time to get settled and earn... Or rather, re-earn the trust of the people she needs it from. She's under orders not to change anything unless it's necessary for getting them into the clans they need to be in."

"The kids need to be in certain clans?"

"One does, he's an Uchiha."

Minato groaned quietly and let his head droop. "This has got to be the dumbest hypothetical apocalypse you've ever given me."

"What if I told you it wasn't hypothetical?"

Minato looked up at the Hokage and gave him a look that said quite clearly 'have you lost your mind?' "Let's continue assuming it is hypothetical. What would you do?"

Minato huffed. "Well... Kushina and I are already living together. We're getting married next week... I'd offer to let Rin stay with us so we could keep an eye on her... At that age, she'd probably be more than happy to retire, if she doesn't have some ulterior motive... And if she can be trustworthy, Kushina and I hold a lot of respect in the village. She'd probably have access to whatever she needs to prepare for the kids showing up if we give her the all-clear," he said. "Now what the hell brought this up?"

Hiruzen thought over what Minato had said, not really bothering to answer right away. Then he sighed, closed the open folder on his desk, and handed it to Minato. "I'll be putting this one away in the normal filing system," he said, making a hand motion Minato understood to be an order to look through it.

"Hayashi Hyosuke... age, sixty; home village, Amegakure; current village... none listed... I'm getting the impression it's going to be Konoha?" Minato trailed off, glancing up at Hiruzen. The Hokage nodded, and the blonde continued looking over the file before closing it and handing it back. "Looks like your average, really old ninja to me."

Hiruzen nodded. "Now look at this file. I'll be putting it away here in my office, under the blood seals that protect the things that are for the Hokage's eyes only," he said, holding out the second file. Minato took it cautiously before opening it up, and his eyes widened immediately.

"Hatake Kakashi; age, sixty; home village, Konohagakure; current village, Konohagakure... status, inactive for four years on orders of Hachidaime Hokage..." Minato didn't make it much further through the file before his legs collapsed under him. "This... isn't some big joke?" he asked, sounding like he'd be so much happier if Hiruzen's grim expression would turn into a grin as the old man started laughing at him.

Hiruzen sighed. "You see the headache I'm getting now?"

Minato took a deep breath, then another, as he kept looking at the file. "Hachidaime... no relatives, war... What kind of a future did Kakashi have to live through...?"

"One that no longer exists. Or won't, by the time the kids arrive."

Minato's blue eye shot up to look at the older man. "The three kids are really coming?"

Hiruzen frowned. "Kakashi told Beren and Ibiki that there would have been a window. Anywhere from a few minutes to a few years during which Karura, Itachi, and Minato would have been able to make their jump, since they sent him back first."

"Me?"

"Your grandson, if we're correct," Hiruzen admitted. "He doesn't know if they made it out in time or not. If not, he's willing to simply play the part of the retired ninja, warning us of things he knows the kids wanted changed before they can happen. If they do arrive, he'll be taking a direct hand, just once. I think he plans to die for the change."

Minato was silent, and Hiruzen glanced back down at him to watch the varied emotions on the blonde's face as he thought through everything.

"You said... The Uchiha... He has to get the Uchiha into their Clan... what about the other two?"

Hiruzen frowned. "The second boy coming back is your grandson. They were hoping Kakashi could talk you into adopting him, it sounds like. The girl is going to pretend to be an Uzumaki. There are a number of them still running around, even if their village is destroyed. It would be a simple matter for Kushina to claim the girl as her cousin or niece."

"That won't work."

"Why not?"

Minato's head shot up as he turned to look at the old man who'd walked in. "Kakashi..."

The man's eye softened and he shook his head. "Don't. It's not my name anymore. And as for Karura... She's got the red hair, the chakra reserves, and the talent for fuuinjutsu. Hell, she's the one who sent us all back. Why wouldn't she be able to pass for an Uzumaki?"

Minato blinked, forcing his already over-loaded brain to think through all of that. Then he smiled. "Does she have the temper to go with the red hair?" he asked. Hyosuke sighed.

"Not... exactly... She's only slightly less psychotic than her father was... and he had the Ichibi driving him to utter madness for the first twelve years of his life. Which was less than half of his life... So, yeah."

Minato made a face before shaking his head. "What about my grandson?"

Hyosuke looked a bit uncomfortable, before he sighed. "I was going to bring that up closer to when they're supposed to arrive, but... Mi... Neku is half Hyuuga. He's got blue eyes and blonde hair like his dad, but his blue eyes hide the Byakugan. Karura was still working on a seal that would make it so he couldn't activate it except under very special circumstances when we left. She'd probably appreciate the help, once she's old enough to handle a brush again."

Minato blinked. "How the hell did my grandson end up half Hyuuga?" he muttered. Hyosuke chuckled.

"Lots and lots of patience on your daughter-in-law's part, that's for sure."

Minato decided, probably quite wisely, that he really didn't want to know anymore. He closed the folder and handed it over to Hiruzen. "So, I take it I basically volunteered earlier?" he asked. The Sandaime smirked, and accepted the folder before standing and putting it away in the filing cabinet he'd mentioned earlier.

"If you're still up to it."

Minato smirked. "I think I am," he said. Hiruzen nodded, then sat back down and opened the other folder, the one for 'Hayashi Hyosuke'. Then he started filling out some of the blanks.

"Well then, Hayashi-san. I'll be leaving you in the care of Minato and his fiancé, for the time being, at least. As you are choosing to enter Konohagakure as a retired ninja, you will therefore be required to cooperate with a nine-month probationary period... Why do I get the impression I really don't need to tell you this?"

The other elderly man chuckled. "Twenty years, standing over the shoulders of the Roku- and Hachidaime Hokages. I'm glad I was out of commission each time the position was open, or I'd have been forced into it," he said. Minato crossed his arms.

"And what's wrong with being Hokage?"

"In the middle of a war? Especially against a powerful Uchiha mastermind and Orochimaru? You tend to not last long. Although I credit the Hachidaime for surviving twenty years, more than twice the majority of his predecessors."

"...Knowing that I'm currently next in line for Yondaime, that really worries me."

"And that is one of the many things we plan to change. Although you did last longer than the Nanadaime."

"Kakashi..."

"Don't worry."

Minato did.


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay, I have a serious question for you guys, since I hadn't originally considered it but I'm now trying to figure out whether to do it or not, since it's been brought up in the most recent chapter I've written and I can't make up my mind._

_**Should I change up the Genin teams, or keep Teams 7, 8, and 10 the same as canon and just add the Karura/Neku/Sakumo team?**_

_I've got a lot of fixing-up to do before I have to write the next chapter, where they find out their teams and meet their senseis, so if you want to submit your opinion, you should have a good amount of time._

_That said, this chapter does a lot of skipping through time. However, as nothing important happens in between, I can't be bothered to write filler crap._

_I don't think I've done this yet, so... I own nothing but my OCs!_

_Enjoy! (And submit your opinion if you can be bothered.)_

* * *

**Sunadokei  
Chapter 3**

"I'm home!"

Minato smiled, even though he'd been nursing a headache, and stood up. "You sound happy," he said, wrapping an arm around the wider-than-usual waist of his wife. Kushina smiled.

"Mikoto agreed to fake twins if they made it. Tsunade's gotten her into the hospital and is keeping Fugaku out under guise of an illness she wants to be sure of before she risks it being contagious or harmful to the baby. He's not happy, but he'll never know either way," she reported. Minato smiled.

"Good, because they're supposed to be here very early tomorrow morning. Hyosuke's already gone out to the clearing where we found him. Kakashi went too, although it took quite a bit of convincing for that to happen," he said. "He's to take Sakumo to the hospital. Hyosuke will be slipping Neku in here and will bring Karura to me, under the cover of a powered-up Henge. Something our son taught him, apparently."

Kushina took a deep breath and smiled. "Looks like everything's accounted for, then. If Neku and his father really did have blonde hair and blue eyes, no one will have to know they aren't twins."

Minato nodded, all traces of his earlier smile now gone.

"Minato? What's wrong?" Kushina asked, brushing blonde bangs out of her husband's face. Minato sighed and shook his head.

"Kakashi told me something today... in case he can't do it, for one reason or another."

"Minato?" Kushina sounded almost scared, and it was no wonder. Minato didn't usually slip up and call the sixty-four-year-old Hatake by his birth name. But that tone of voice, she knew he couldn't possibly be talking about the old man's fifteen-year-old counterpart.

"He wouldn't tell me the details, he wouldn't tell me much at all... Just said... 'If I can't get there to do it, when you use the Shiki Fujin, split the Kyuubi's chakra, seal the yang half into Naruto, and give the yin half to Karura or her chakra coils will over-develop and kill her.' Kushina..."

Dark blue eyes widened, and Kushina's grip on her husband tightened. "If it gets out and there's no other option, do it," she said. "But please... try to save it as a last resort."

Minato pulled her close and closed his eyes. "Kushina... I think Kakashi's planning on using it regardless."

Kushina was quiet for a while. "He said he wouldn't be around if he succeeded. I think... I think we need to allow him this... If all else fails."

Minato nodded. "Let's just hope that he's wrong, and we can keep it contained."

*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*

A soft knocking at the window caught Tsunade's attention, even past the pants of the woman in labor before her. "Shizune..."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama!" the dark-haired teen said quickly, running over to the window and opening the blind, before then opening the window and holding her arms out as if to accept something. When a baby, bundled up a one of the white blankets Hyosuke had left with, was placed in her arms, Tsunade's eyes widened slightly, and she turned to Mikoto.

"Sakumo's here," she told the mother. "It's time Sasuke joins his brother..."

Mikoto nodded slightly as Tsunade went back about what she'd been doing. Which was, mostly, making sure nothing was going wrong from an angle where she wouldn't have to see the blood. Shizune held out the boy in her arms, and Tsunade accepted the bundle for a moment while the teen took over with the mother.

After running a quick scan over the boy to make sure he was perfectly healthy and wrapping him up in a blue hospital blanket, she turned to Shizune... Just in time to hear a baby's cry.

Mikoto and Shizune smiled at each other, and the teen started cleaning up the newborn. Tsunade looked down at the boy in her arms, even as Shizune started bundling up the boy who would be his brother.

Dark eyes opened slowly, and stared up at Tsunade warily before the baby started making sounds that might have been mistaken for crying, but which Tsunade had a feeling were really signs of his anxiety, since she was a stranger.

"Hush, little one. Your lungs aren't as strong as your brother's," she murmured to the boy. That was what she hoped he'd understand, at least. He made a few more pathetic sounds before trying to look around.

Shizune was finished cleaning up, and had handed the newborn Sasuke to his mother already. She looked up at Tsunade, who nodded, before she left.

A moment later, Uchiha Fugaku and his five-year-old son, Itachi, walked in carefully. Tsunade was continuing to gently rub the chest of the little one in her arms, much like she would if his lungs really were weak, while Mikoto smiled up at them.

"Twins..." she said breathlessly.

Itachi looked up at the boy Tsunade held—the blonde woman looking suitably concerned about the infant in her arms—then up at his mother, and back to Tsunade. "Twins... I have two little brothers?"

Fugaku looked almost as stoic as always. "Which is the elder?" he asked. Mikoto giggled.

"I want this one to be Sasuke," she said, obviously referring to the boy she held. Fugaku looked like he was about to groan.

"I take it that is the second-born twin?" he guessed. Mikoto nodded, then looked up at Tsunade.

"Is Sasuke's brother going to be alright?" she asked, again pointing out that she wanted the boy in her arms to be Sasuke.

Tsunade paused her rubbing and took a moment to check the babe's breathing. "He should be alright. I'd like to check up on him again in a week to make sure, but it looks like his lungs are doing fine, now that we've gotten the amniotic fluids out of his chest," she said.

Fugaku looked between Sasuke and his twin before stepping over to Tsunade and slowly lifting his hands, silently asking to hold his son. Tsunade carefully placed the boy into the Uchiha Head's arms before she walked over to Sasuke to double-check him herself.

"So, if my youngest brother's name is Sasuke, what's his twin's name?" Itachi asked. Mikoto had been looking thoughtful, and rocking back and forth slightly.

"Sakumo," she said after a moment. Fugaku frowned.

"Hatake Sakumo—"

"I didn't come up with Sakumo because of him. Besides, it's not like it will bring dishonor on the Uchiha Clan if our Sakumo becomes a better ninja than he was," Makoto said. Fugaku looked down at the boy in his arms.

"Uchiha Sakumo... And Uchiha Sasuke. Yes. I think Sakumo will do nicely."

And if Tsunade's smile was a bit sneaky, he didn't notice.

*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*

Minato should have been running to the safe-house he'd set up for the birth, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. In his arms was a red-haired baby wrapped up in a sandy-colored blanket. Karura's eyes were a very dark blue-green, even at this young age, and Hyosuke had said they'd fluctuate later on in her life, eventually being an indicator of her sanity level. But her hair was certainly red, and they'd had no difficulties passing her off as Kushina's niece.

Except, she'd been crying a lot lately, and Hyosuke had said it was because her chakra coils were trying to expand to accommodate chakra that wasn't there. He'd said the only way to fix it would be to make her a jinchuuriki.

But that would require the Kyuubi escaping Kushina, which would kill her, and...

Minato had had to force himself to simply _stop_ more than once already tonight.

Neku had been taken to the safe-house by Biwako. No one would have to know he wasn't Naruto's twin. Though, Hyosuke hadn't mentioned the fact that the boy's pupils didn't show. Kushina had gone into a minor panic over that when Hyosuke had brought Neku to her, but the old man had explained that his pupils would darken over the course of the first year or so, only disappearing after that when he activated the Byakugan.

It still baffled Minato that his son, his Naruto, had fallen in love with a Hyuuga. Hyosuke had refused to surrender the name of the girl, but as Hyuuga Hitomi was the only female Hyuuga currently pregnant, he had to assume that it would be a girl.

Still... Hyuuga Main Branch?

Minato shook his head and looked up before undoing a seal to slip inside the barrier. Once inside, he gently placed Karura—currently asleep, thank heavens—on the ground, before turning and reactivating the barrier... along with a number of others.

Then he picked up the redhead and continued on to the safe house.

Where, if the cries of pain were any indication, Kushina was already in labor.

"Dammit, Minato, where are you?!"

Minato finally started into a run, slipping into the small building and placing Karura in the crib next to Neku, whose wide, still-pupil-less eyes were trying to watch everything around him... literally, if the slightly bulging veins meant anything.

Minato forcibly shrugged that off before slipping over to Kushina's side and placing a hand on her stomach, adding chakra to the seal there to help solidify it.

Two hours later and starting to understand why Hyosuke's Yondaime had had to use the Shiki Fujin instead of an alternate seal, Minato finally lifted his hand from Kushina's belly and looked up at Biwako, a smile already spreading across his face.

Except, the old woman's face held an expression of horrified shock, and as she slumped to the ground, bleeding heavily, Minato saw the reason why.

"Naruto!" Kushina cried, seeing her son in the arms of a man in dark clothes and an orange mask. Minato leapt to his feet, and the stranger stepped back, allowing Taji, the second midwife, to slump to the ground the way Biwako had.

"Ah, ah, ah! I don't want the boy, Yondy-sama. I just want his kaasan."

Minato had a sinking feeling this had happened before, too, and he glanced down at Kushina.

The grim resolve in her body language almost broke his heart, even before she spoke.

"Take me. Just give Naruto back to his tousan," Kushina said, voice strong despite everything that had happened.

Baby Naruto was roughly shoved into Minato's unprepared grasp as the masked stranger dropped into a crouch and then disappeared.

"Minato!"

The blonde looked up, saw Hyosuke, and started to stand, only to have Naruto slipped deftly out of his hands. "Sorry," the old man added, flipping his eyepatch up.

Minato shouldn't have looked, he knew that the moment he did.

Because how often had Kakashi gone after Hyosuke for _not saving Obito_?

Red and black spun, and Minato slumped to the ground as Hyosuke turned to the two in the crib. The commotion had woken Karura, who, despite having no pain tolerance, was doing her best not to cry.

Neku's eyes, showing wisdom beyond even the years he'd lived before, watched as Hyosuke scooped up the redhead and left.

Hyosuke wasn't far away when the Kyuubi broke out and started on its rampage, and he spotted a familiar head of white hair not far away.

"Jiraiya!"

The Toad Sage glanced over his shoulder and paused, long enough for Hyosuke to slip one of the babies into his arms.

"Is this my godson?" he asked, an almost light tone to his voice. Hyosuke smiled.

"Yes. That's Naruto. When we get there, I need you to summon Gamabunta to hold the Kyuubi off, alright? I'll worry about the kids and the sealing," he said. Jiraiya frowned.

"You sure about this?" he asked. Hyosuke chuckled.

"Positive. Believe me, I've gone over this particular jutsu dozens... probably hundreds of times in the last twenty-five years of my life. I know it better than Minato does."

"Right... Be careful. Hiruzen's still too far out to make it in time. How long is the kid gonna be out, anyway?"

"Three days. Jiraiya!"

Naruto was passed back to Hyosuke.

"Yeah, I know. Good luck."


	4. Chapter 4

_To everyone who looked at this while the Re:AST chapter was up, I apologize. I've uploaded for three different stories today and this was an accident.  
_

**_I have a poll up on my profile regarding the Genin team thing. If you care either way, please go vote._**

_I've finally gotten an update schedule decided. Those of you reading this story will appreciate it's new schedule more than my Idomura readers, even if Re:AST is still updating most often. Um..._

_I'm currently working on the cover for this story. It is still a work in progress, however. It will probably be another month before it's done, knowing me and my habits of procrastination. -looks sadly at many folders on laptop-_

_I'm also working on writing out a lot of scenes I've skipped over during the initial writing. These will be added back in later as omakes. I'll warn you later if I've added one to a chapter that's already been posted. Um... Oh! Do you guys want me to add the chapter names or not? I've got chapter names for all of the written chapters, but so far I've just been putting 'chapter 1' and so on..._

_I think I'm done now. I'll be posting again on Monday to line myself up with the new schedule. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Sunadokei  
Chapter 4**

'_Kushina...'_

Minato woke slowly, his memories coming back piece by piece. Walking with Karura in his arms to the safe-house. Kushina already in labor. Holding the seal in place. The stranger.

'_Kakashi... Dammit. I should have known he'd use the Sharingan if it meant stopping me.'_

"Minato?"

Blue eyes opened slowly, carefully, not quite sure they wanted to see where they were or what the damage was.

"Hiruzen?"

The Sandaime Hokage smiled, an expression tainted by sadness. "I'm sorry. Kushina didn't make it. She held on long enough to leave letters for you, Naruto, Neku, and Karura, though."

Minato blinked back the tears. He'd already known that. Known that if the Kyuubi was released, Kushina wouldn't survive.

"Hyosuke?"

"Jiraiya held the Kyuubi off long enough for him to seal it away... The yang half in Naruto, the yin half in Karura. Who has spent these last three days sleeping quite peacefully, I will note, now that she has the chakra needed to fill her developing coils properly," Hiruzen said. Minato frowned.

"Three days? It's..."

"October 13. Naruto was born three days ago. And, Neku's records claim that he was, as well."

Minato swallowed, staring up at the ceiling, but not really seeing anything. "Three kids... Kami, Hiruzen... I was barely ready for Naruto... and... Oh... Oh, Hiruzen..."

The older man smiled again, seeming sadder this time, and placed a hand on Minato's shoulder. "Biwako would have been happy to know you and the children survived. I take my solace in that... And offer my assistance with the three of them, at least until Karura and Neku can at least partially fend for themselves."

Minato couldn't help but chuckle. "If Naruto is anything like his mother, I'm going to be praying those two don't mind having to be a little more mature than I'd usually ask them to be," he said, mental images of one blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy being a complete pest to another blue-eyed blonde and a red-haired girl.

Hiruzen smirked. "We've also engraved Hyosuke's name on the KIA memorial," he added. Minato's smile faded a bit as confusion took over. "It was Yamanaka Inoichi's request, actually, and as a retired ninja, it was within our rights to do so for Hyosuke. Apparently, Kakashi's habit of spending hours at the memorial every day didn't improve much until the Fourth Great War started in his last timeline."

Minato smiled a bit. "Well, I guess I'll just have to assign Kakashi to babysit Karura and the twins once in a while. Maybe that will help."

Hiruzen chuckled. "He's stuck babysitting them right now. Although, aside from the difficulties he seems to have with getting Naruto to take a nap, he hasn't been having too much trouble..."

"Mostly because Karura's been asleep the whole time?" Minato guessed. The older man nodded, and the blonde finally sat up, slowly. "Ah... what the hell did Hyosuke do to me?"

"A rather backwards Tsukiyomi, according to what Jiraiya told me he'd described it as. Instead of trapping you in a genjutsu that speeds up time, he locked you in one that slowed it down."

"Great... I take it Karura and the twins are at my house?"

Hiruzen cringed. "Hyosuke didn't catch the Kyuubi before it reached the village walls, unfortunately. It's a good thing he left Neku in the shack with you, because your apartment... well..."

Minato groaned. "Great. I get to deal with real estate again."

"It seems Hyosuke already took care of that for you. The house he bought a few months ago? He left a note. It's all yours. He was even nice enough to set up two nurseries across the hall from each other. One for the boys, one for Karura, so they won't all have to share one room when they're older."

Minato paused in his stretching. "He knew the Kyuubi would probably reach Konoha before he could catch up. That's why he bought the home he did," he realized. Hiruzen nodded.

"He certainly took Karura's orders to heart on this one."

Minato nodded, remembering from a week before Hyosuke reciting the orders he'd been given by the redhead who had called him 'Kakashi-jiji'. "If you have the opportunity to save the Yondaime or help him in any way when the Kyuubi attacks, do it."

"Let's see if we can't keep it to Godaime by the time this Kakashi turns sixty, yes?" Hiruzen chuckled. Minato smiled. Yes, keeping it to a number like five would be much better than the eight they'd made it to before erasing the timeline.

*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*

"Are you sure this one's Karura's?" Minato asked, glancing around the room. The redheaded baby in his arms warbled happily, reaching out toward something on the far wall. An hourglass, Minato realized after a moment. He smiled and handed it to Karura, who settled it against her blanket and watched as the sand started to slip and slide around inside... it...

Minato stared at the redhead, and Kakashi sighed. "Yeah, this one was meant for Karura. There's only one crib, see? Naruto and Neku have their own... besides, Karura seems to have fun playing with the sand," the silver-haired teen said.

Minato turned around to look at him incredulously. "She's...?"

"Exercising as much chakra control as her little body can handle. She'll shift all the sand from one chamber to the other and back a few times before... there. See?"

Minato looked down, just in time for Karura's eyes to droop a bit and the sand to stop moving. A moment later, the little girl was asleep again. He smiled at the sight and put the baby in her mahogany crib before placing the hourglass back on the shelf. He looked around the room quietly, frowning to himself a bit.

"Still... Dark green and a sandy color?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Hyosuke said she'd like it in the note."

Minato smiled a bit. That meant she'd probably liked those colors as an adult. Well, since she couldn't exactly tell them what colors she wanted her room to be right now, he figured Hyosuke had done a good job.

Stepping into the boy's nursery gave him the impression of having stepped out of the forest onto a cliff's edge at sunset. Dark green carpet (the same color as in Karura's room, he noted) surrendered to walls that were a pale orange around the bottom, then faded to a dark purple where they met the ceiling. A starry sky, one Minato recognized well, having gone star-gazing many times as a child, adorned the ceiling.

"You might want to read Hyosuke's note on this one..." Kakashi said, handing over the piece of paper. Minato took it cautiously and opened it up.

_Be warned: Naruto will most likely have a thing for orange. And as Neku probably favors shades of purple, I decided an attempt at sunset would be a good idea. I think it turned out well. You'll probably have to move one of them into his own room when they hit Academy age though, because I honestly can't see them getting along while sharing this space at that point. (But that's why there are two guest rooms.)_

Minato resisted the urge to groan as he stuck the note in his pocket. Neku was already fast asleep in a black-lacquered crib, while Naruto was wriggling around in a white one. Minato sighed and walked over, picking his son up out of the crib and gently rocking the boy. Bright blue eyes looked up at him, almost in surprise, and Minato caressed the whisker marks on his cheeks gently.

"Naruto..."

"Ah, I see you've already collected up most of the notes Hyosuke left sitting around."

Minato turned around and pointed to Kakashi. "He did. I've only read the one that was put in this room and the one from the living room. Nice house... Kinda makes me wonder how Hyosuke saved up the money for it," he said. Hiruzen smiled.

"Retirement pension, plus the money he made working at the bookstore. Kushina never let him pay rent or anything, so he was able to save up. It also helps that he arrived with a rather reasonable amount on his person," he said. Minato frowned, thought about that for a few moments, then shrugged.

"Makes sense. He did have a lot more money than your average deserter would have been able to get access to on the way out. I guess he was half-expecting he'd have to care for one or more of the kids himself if worse came to worst."

Hiruzen nodded as Kakashi made a discreet exit. They both knew he didn't like being around when the subject was his counterpart from the future. Not after Obito and Rin had died.

"Mikoto is planning on coming over tomorrow with Itachi and her twins," the older man added. Minato nodded, noting that Naruto had finally nodded off.

"That should be interesting. Hyosuke... He told me a lot about what his future was like in the days before Kushina went into labor," he started. Hiruzen gently guided Minato into one of the two rocking chairs in the room before sitting in the other.

"Will you tell me what he told you?" he asked. Minato shrugged.

"Most of it's pointless now, but sure." The blonde paused for a few moments before sighing. "I would have died the other night. I would have left Naruto an orphan, and... even though he's the reason why Konoha's safe, everyone would have hated him."

"I'll assume I took the hat back."

"Yeah. You passed a law so no one could tell Naruto what he was. And Naruto grew up a prankster. If he couldn't get attention one way, he'd get it another... He managed to graduate, despite goofing off and never paying attention in class, though I couldn't get Hyosuke to tell me how," Minato said, eyes staring off into space as if he was watching this other life that he would never want to condemn his son to.

"Naruto was put onto a team with Uchiha Sasuke and a girl named Haruno Sakura. Sakura is the reason why Sakumo choose that name for when he came back. Those two became his parents. It sounds like they weren't the perfect team, though... Hyosuke said he'd made a horrible sensei, and he'd lost each of his students to the Sannin. Naruto to Jiraiya, Sakura to Tsunade, Sasuke to Orochimaru."

"But... Orochimaru is..."

"I know. He said Sasuke didn't rejoin Konoha until the Fourth War started. Tsunade was the Godaime, apparently, and held the position for... five years, did he say? Yeah, five years. Naruto was the Rokudaime for six... And yeah, I found the irony in those two... Hyosuke said Naruto was the best Hokage they had during the war, and I don't think he was just trying to make me feel better. Shimura Danzo slithered into the position for two years and then was assassinated, much to everyone's relief..."

Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle along with Minato for that one. "And then... They gave the hat to Uchiha Sasuke. Hachidaime for twenty years... Maybe longer, depending on how many years it took for that timeline to reset. Hyosuke said Naruto had four children... he never even got to know he would have a fourth, because his wife wasn't aware she was pregnant when he died. Hyosuke found it ironic that the one child who had black hair, a trait Naruto had been hoping would crop up in their kids, was the one he never knew he had."

"Uzumaki Minato was the third born, then?"

"Yeah. Uchiha Itachi was second-born, with an older sister and a younger brother. Sabaku no Karura was an only child."

"She'll certainly have a hayday growing up with Neku and Naruto, then, won't she?"

"If she doesn't murder one of them before they graduate..."

"That sweet little girl?"

"Hyosuke said she's anything but sweet as an adult. My bet is, she'll be a walking terror by four."

"Little faith."

"Optimist."


	5. Chapter 5

**_It was brought to my attention that I put up Part 4 of Re:AST instead of Chapter 4 of Sunadokei last time. That has been corrected. If you have not read Chapter 4, feel free to do so now._**

_If you care at all about teams, I highly suggest voting on the poll on my profile.  
_

_My update schedule has changed, simply because I realized that I was cutting it way too short between updates for me to keep up with writing ahead.  
_

_Also! Chapter titles, yes or no?_

_Um... Yeah, I think I'm out of things now._

_Enjoy! After last chapter, this one's got a bit of humor in it! (And a subtle reminder that, four-year-old bodies or not, Karura and Neku are, mentally, adults.)_

* * *

**Sunadokei  
Chapter 5**

"NAMIKAZE NARUTO!"

Minato muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'I told you so' to the elderly man standing next to him before moving to intercept the red-haired and blonde blurs that were racing toward him.

Well, the blonde was racing toward him.

The redhead was just trying to strangle the blonde.

And, just his luck, Sasuke, Sakumo, and Neku chose then to chase after a ball... right into Naruto's path.

Once the five four-year-olds had stilled into something reminiscent of a puppy pile, Minato sighed and started extracting the two dangerous ones.

Namely, Naruto and Karura.

And it only took him one look at the multiple wads of bubblegum in Karura's hair to figure out what had happened, even as Nara Shikamaru finally emerged out of the bushes.

"Naruto, if you know Karura's going to kill you, why do you do things like this?" the dark-haired boy asked tiredly as Neku and the Uchiha twins managed to untangle themselves with some help from Itachi.

"'Cause it's fun?" Naruto said carefully. Karura growled at him, and he squirmed, trying to get out of his father's grip.

"Ah... Karura..." Minato started, surveying the damage. The redhead just sighed.

"Cut it. It'll grow back... Maybe. If I don't decide to just keep it short," she mumbled. Minato sighed and carefully let go of the two... and Naruto bolted off, heading in the direction of their house.

"Everything okay over here?" Mikoto asked as she walked over. Then she gasped lightly. "Oh, Karura!"

The redhead scowled, grabbed Neku, and started tugging on Minato's sleeve. The man sighed.

"Alright, I get it..." he mumbled, taking Neku's hand and then disappearing in a Hiraishin. A moment later, the three of them were in the living room of their house. Neku headed toward the door.

"I'll wait for Naruto," he said as Minato and Karura headed into the kitchen. Karura scrambled up onto a chair and sat sideways so the back wouldn't get in Minato's way.

"You know, you could try being a bit more mature when things like this happen," Minato said, finally locating the pair of scissors he had set aside special for haircuts and had needed to hide from Naruto.

Karura shrugged. "I seem to recall you mentioning that you didn't want to 'begrudge us our childhood' 'cause we grew up in the middle of a war. Besides, Neku might not remember, because he never really met me before we got put on a team together, but Sakumo knows that even as a little kid, I had a habit of threatening to kill people. I just learned to focus that against our enemies instead, after a while," she said, holding still while Minato tried to make her hair look as nice as possible, even if it was going to be very short.

"I'm going to assume you used to threaten him regularly," Minato said as he checked over his handiwork so far.

It helped, he supposed, that Naruto's hair was just like his and Neku preferred to keep his long enough for a ponytail. It meant he usually didn't have to do much more than a trim. Karura hadn't asked him for anything more than a trim up until then, either.

"Meh, I thought he was an arrogant butt-wipe. Called him that a few times, too... and then I met Neku, and realized that teasing people could be as entertaining as threatening to kill them... Although Naruto reacts more strongly to the threatening than anything else."

Minato sighed and stepped around the chair. If he was going to have to chop her hair off, might as well be thorough and get her bangs, too. Karura just closed her eyes, and he frowned. "You know, most kids your age... or at least, the age you're supposed to be, prefer making friends over terrorizing them."

Karura huffed. "I made a friend! Heck, given how often we argued, I never would have thought Shikamaru and I would get along so well... Still, I hope he marries the same woman as last time. My cousins were interesting. Shikari especially..."

Minato made a face, then frowned. "Cousins?"

Karura frowned, looking thoughtful even with her eyes closed as he finished with her bangs. "My father had two older siblings, a brother and a sister. The eldest, his sister, married Shikamaru. They had three kids. Shikari was the eldest, born just a month before me, and she had two little siblings, a brother and a sister. Shikari was the last to die at age 15. Her mother and siblings died before her... Shikamaru-oji was still alive when we left. He was one of the two that saw us off," she said. Minato, now sure that he hadn't missed anything, started brushing off her shoulders.

Karura's eyes opened as he spoke again. "What happened to your tousan's brother?"

Karura shrugged. "He died before I was born. Never married."

"Who else saw you off?" Minato wondered as she slipped out of the chair to find a broom and dustpan.

"Shino-sensei... Aburame Shino," she said, seeing her father's confused expression. "Shino was one of the best squad leaders Konoha had during the Rokudaime's reign, and then the Nanadaime saddled him with a genin squad. He never looked back, even went so far as to ask Sasuke-oji to let him train me, Neku, and Sakumo. I think... teaching helped him take his mind off of Tenten. And he was good at it. I think he only ever lost four Genin under his instruction, and that was over a course of twenty years."

"Gah! You guys Hiraishin'ed, didn't you?!"

Karura's contemplative look became an almost evil one as she raced to the living room and—if the sound was anything to go by—tackled Naruto.

"Gotcha!"

"Wow... You actually look really nice with short hair."

"Sucking up isn't going to save you, Naruto."

"Gah! No, not a wedgie!"

Minato groaned quietly.

"Aw, let him go, Karura. I'm sure he's very sorry."

Minato walked into the living room and watched as Karura reluctantly let her prey up, Naruto wasting no time running to his room. He watched as Neku's eyes widened. "Karura... Have you looked in a mirror yet?"

The redhead turned to her 'cousin' and shook her head. "No. Why?"

Neku just shook his head and drug her off toward the bathroom. Minato, curious as to what had gotten into his 'son', followed them, and heard Karura gasp as well before he stuck his head into the door.

"Did I do horribly?" he asked, a teasing note in his voice even though he really was worried about it.

Karura's face slowly turned from shock, to amazement, to utter joy before she turned around. "I look just like Tousan!"

"For now," Neku said. "Once your eyes start darkening again—"

"But I still look just like Tousan! All those years of being told I look like my kaasan even though neither of us could really see it... I look like Tousan!"

Minato crossed his arms and frowned. "And you both know this... How?"

Karura grinned. "Pictures! Kaasan and Temari-oba had lots and lots of pictures of him. Shikamaru-oji gave me Temari-oba's scrapbooks when she died, and I showed them to my team sometimes!" she said cheerfully. "And my head feels so light... I wanna keep my hair like this! I wanna keep looking like Tousan!"

"Even after you grow a bigger rack than my kaasan?"

Minato wasn't sure whether to clap or groan when Karura promptly slugged Neku in the face for that comment.

"Pervert!"

"I'm told it runs in the family."

Minato groaned.

*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*

"Karura, are you really okay with this? I mean, I know Neku and I have gone over it again and again and—"

"Yes, Naruto, it's fine! Sheesh!"

"But, we're sharing a birthday party, and—"

"If you keep pushing this, I'm going to think you're the one who doesn't want it."

Naruto grinned. "Okay!"

Neku walked over wearing a scowl. "If I say that I'm having second thoughts, will you threaten to kill me?" he asked. Karura laughed. "What? Formalwear isn't that comfy."

Karura just grinned at the two of them. Naruto didn't seem to have too much of a problem with his clothes. Well, not now that he'd been given the go-ahead to wear his favorite color. His montuki kimono was white, and the hakama over it was red, but his haori was orange, with the Namikaze Clan symbol in purple stitching.

And, like yin and yang, Neku had been dressed up in a black montuki kimono and a purple haori with orange stitching. His red hakama matched Naruto's perfectly.

Karura's kimono managed to reconcile all three colors, with red being the base color and purple and orange claiming the details. There was nothing that could be done with her short red hair, but Minato had decided it would be fine.

The three had decided that, instead of celebrating Karura's birthday on July 10 and then theirs on October 10, they could celebrate for all three of them on August 25, halfway between the two birthdays.

Minato had argued until Neku pointed out that one big birthday party involved less expenses than two.

"You three ready?" Mikoto asked, sticking her head in the door. Karura grinned and ran over to her, somehow moving her usual speed without tripping on the edge of her kimono.

"Yup! Cake and ice cream!" she replied. 'Cake and ice cream' had been one of her favorite things to say all week.

Mikoto laughed at the redhead's enthusiasm, before she ushered all three children out into the courtyard. Sarutobi Hiruzen had offered up his sizable estate as a place to hold the party when Minato had told him about it.

A good thing, too, given the number of people the Yondaime had invited. Karura had given him a list of people to invite, and while he'd already planned on inviting most of them, a few had surprised him.

An orphan Ibiki seemed to have taken a shine to (even going to far as to adopt) being one of those.

"Hey, Sai!" Karura called, waving at the black-haired boy. He smiled, though it looked a bit awkward. His entire personality was awkward, Karura had told Minato.

Once the formalities had been gotten through with, though, the adults all wandered off to one direction, and the kids ten and under (Karura only counted as high as ten because of Itachi) amassing in another corner. Karura looked through them, then scowled.

"Roll call!" she decided, getting a couple of chuckles out of Itachi. Karura definitely wasn't the tallest of the four-to-six range. "Aburame Shino."

"Here."

"Akimichi Choji?"

Karura went through the alphabetical list quickly, Neku being a smart aleck and throwing in her name after Uchiha Sasuke's and getting a fist to the head for his efforts, before she grinned and initiated the games they'd set up that morning.

Of course, while most of the boys wandered off to play, Karura, Yamanaka Ino, a pink-haired girl Ino had met and befriended named Sakura, and a shy Hyuuga Hinata stepped off to the side. It wasn't that Karura didn't want to play, she just knew that if she did and her kimono got dirty, she'd have to listen to Ino go on about it for hours.

Sai walked over sometime after the first game concluded and sat down next to Karura, resulting in Ino, who had ended up on his other side because of this, making a face at him.

"D-do you need so-something, Morino-san?" Hinata asked from Karura's other side. Sai gave her another of his not-quite-real smiles.

"I don't care much for crowds, Hyuuga-sama. And I'm not afraid of girls like most boys my age," he said. Then he looked at Karura. "By the way, Karura-chan... A couple of my friends from the orphanage asked me to give this to you."

Karura took the paper and gasped when she saw the two names written within.


End file.
